Hungary's unemployment rate at historic low

The unemployment rate in Hungary has dropped to a historic low of 4.9 percent, it has been revealed.

In June–August 2016, the number of unemployed in Hungary was 227,000 which turned out to be 77,000 fewer than in 2015, and the unemployment rate also decreased by 1.7 percent points to a historic low of 4.9 percent, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported.

In the same period, the number of employed in Hungary rose to 135,000 more than a year earlier as the employment rate increased to 67.1 percent among people aged between 15–64 years.

The number of 15–74-year-old unemployed men decreased by 33,000 and their unemployment rate by 1.4 percent to 4.9 percent.

Women and men were characterized by almost the same level of unemployment, but the improvement was higher for women.

At the same time, the number of employed people in Hungary increased by 3.2 percent. Out of the overall growth of 135,000 the increment in the domestic primary labor market was nearly 130,000.

Hungary’s unemployment rate has hit a level unseen since the regime change of 1989, and the number of economically active people has concurrently reached a historic high, said Minister of National Economy Mihály Varga.

In July 2016, Hungary’s unemployment rate was the fifth lowest within the EU, Minister Varga noted, adding that youth employment data is encouraging in particular as it has declined from nearly 30 percent to 12.8 percent.